Some Random Thoughts About Yukon Family Fishing With Kids

June 07, 2009 at 10:49 am

Took the family fishing yesterday to Little Atlin Lake in search of a pike dinner. The lake is about an hour from Whitehorse and requires a boat so it took a little more prep than standing on shore on a stocked lake. It was a great trip which everyone enjoyed; but I thought I would document a couple of thoughts so I could improve it for next time.

1) Snacks - gotta have more next time for the kids and probably something refreshing and frozen like a yoghurt tube. It was hot and the little blast of cold would have been nice.

2) A ban on Holeys.  In an aluminum boat with fish slime around…they get deadly slippery. We all tend to wear them when it is hot, but definitely a safety concern.

3) Rig up your rods before hand. I had all the right gear but had to rig up the rods while en route which is very hard when you have to steer a 30hp motor. 

4) Figure out a way to keep each child engaged at all times. Both of my kids are still a little weak in casting so I try and cast for them and let them retrieve or I get them to watch the lure for any takes as I retrieve.

5) For pike in weedbeds, use weedless and high floating lures like suspended rapalas, frogs, etc. Young kids can only retrieve so fast so a sinking lure will inevitably get caught in weeds given the slow retrieval time. We caught all of our fish on floating lures which is more fun anyways.

6) Manage expectations and quit before they get tired. We wanted to get out fish, catch a couple for dinner and come back…with the kids wanting more. We were lucky to catch a few quickly so there was a few fish in the boat that they could touch and see while we fished for more.

Just some random thoughts and wish you great success in fishing with the family.

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